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THE TORNADO 



OF 



1851, 



IN 



MEDFORD, WEST CAMBRIDGE AND WALTHAM, 

MIDDLESEX COUNTY, MASS. 



BEING A 



REPORT BY REV. CHARLES BROOKS, 



REPORTS BY OTHER COMMITTEES. 



BOSTON: 

J. M. USHER, 37 CORNHILL 

1S52. 



• M 5 B f& 



Entered according to act of Congress, in the year 1852, 
By JAMES M. USHER, 
in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of Massachusetts. 



PREFACE. 



The author of the following report is anxious 
to state, that he does not present it as em- 
bracing every fact, but, as a record of those 
facts which seemed to him most important. 
He has carefully refrained from meddling with 
any theory, as such, but has stated facts as he 
found them immediately after the event. With 
regard to the position in which trees were 
found lying, he carefully recorded those which 
seemed to be exceptions to the general ap- 
pearances. 

C.B. 



West Mcdford, August 28th, 1851. 

At a meeting of the citizens of West Medford, 
called for the purpose of considering the propriety 
of ascertaining the extent of the damage by the Tor- 
nado on Friday last, Rev. Charles Brooks called the 
meeting to order, and Hon. Edward Brooks was cho- 
sen Chairman, and James M. Usher, Secretary. 

After remarks by Gorham Brooks, Esq., Rev. Chas, 
Brooks, J. M. Usher and others, it was 

Voted, That a Committee of five be appointed to appraise 
damages. 

Voted, Gorham Brooks, Chas. Caldwell, Franklin Patch, 
Albert Smith, and Jeremiah Gilson, constitute the Com- 
mittee. 

Voted, That the Committee on appraisal be instructed to 
consider the circumstances of the sufferers, and report cases, 
(if any ; ) where charity is deemed necessary. 

Voted, That the Committee be authoriezd to communicate 
with similar Committees from other towns in relation to the 
publication of the result of their investigations. 

Voted, That Rev. Chas. Brooks be appointed a Committee 
to collect and arrange the facts in reference to science. 

Voted, To adjourn. 

J. M. Usher, Secretary. 

October SOtli. A meeting was called to hear Re- 
ports from the Committees. Rev. Chas. Brooks sub- 
mitted his Report, and it was accepted. The Com- 
mittee on appraisal made their Report, which was 
accepted, and the Committee was instructed to ask 
liberty of the town to have it spread upon the records. 

Adjourned. J. M. Usher, Sec. 



THE TORNADO. 



Requested by citizens of West Medford 
to collect the facts relating to the Tornado 
of August 22d, 1851 ; the following state- 
ments are respectfully submitted as a brief 

REPORT. 

The state of the atmosphere from sunrise 
to the time of the tornado, on August 22d, 
was peculiar. Many spoke of a dead close- 
ness, a remarkable want of elasticity in 
the air. Many complained of lassitude 
from this cause. Clouds gathered ; and 
there were appearances of wind approach- 
ing ; but it did not come. For an hour 
before the tornado, there was here almost a 
perfect calm; yet it was a calm prophetic 
1* 



G THE TORNADO. 

of, we knew not what. An old sea-cap- 
tain told his wife, at 4 o'clock, P. M., that 
" if he was at sea he should expect a water- 
spout." 

Direction. Coming from Waltham, the 
central line of march seemed to be from 
W. S. W. to E. N. E., till it reached the 
western edge of Medford at the Mystic 
river, near the " Wear bridge." Here it 
changed its direction slightly, and moved 
from W. by S. to E. by N., keeping this line 
to the edge of Maiden, beyond which I have 
not traced it. From a hill forty or fifty 
feet high, near Fulton street, I could take its 
centre on the hills of West Cambridge, and 
found it S. 60° W., or nearly w/s. W., 
while its centre from Fulton street to the 
hill in West Medford was W. by S. exactly ; 
thus showing that it curved slightly towards 
the east at its passing of Mystic river. Af- 
ter taking the direction at Mystic river, 
Lowell R. R. depot, Miss Brooks' hill, Mr. 
Hall's hill, and at Fulton Street, the result 
seems to be, that its march was upon a 
straight line. 



THE TORNADO. ( 

Centre. T use the word centre to designate 
that line of march towards which objects, 
on both sides, were thrown. Suppose the 
tornado had been in the shape of an invert- 
ed cone, revolving round a perpendicular 
axis, and its sharp end had ploughed a fur- 
row in the earth through its whole course, 
I should call this furrow the central line of 
its march, or its centre. I use the word 
centre in this sense. To discover where the 
centre was at every place is difficult ; be- 
cause the circumstances in certain places do 
not allow the fixing of any particular line. 
At such places I noted a line which ranged 
W. by S. and E. by N., as these points were 
clearly determined on both sides of the 
doubtful spot. Thus taking two determin- 
ate centres, half a mile apart, I considered 
the central line of motion the straight line 
between these two ascertained centres. 
There is an impropriety in speaking of a 
central line as wider or narrower at different 
places ; though the position in which ob- 
jects were left by the wind, would indicate 
that the area of action on the centre was 
not uniformly of the same width. Whether 



8 THE TORNADO. 

the forces were equal at the same elevations 
I cannot say, bnt presume them to have 
been so. 

Form. All who saw the tornado speak 
of its "form." Whether the dust, water 
and other materials which it gathered into 
its bosom, in the air, gave it such visible 
shape, it is not important to inquire. To some, 
who watched it closely, its form resembled 
a tall, wide-spreading elm tree. To others 
it appeared like an inverted cone. Sev- 
eral represent it as a dense upright column ; 
and a few as having some resemblance 
to an hour-glass. It might have had these 
forms at different places in its route, or it 
might have appeared differently at the same 
moment, to persons looking at it from dif- 
ferent angles. Some who watched it at 
right angles to its line of march, and some 
who saw it from elevated points, through 
four or five miles of its course, concur in say- 
ing that the conical point let down from the 
cloud moved about at short distances, now 
pushing down to the earth and now rising 
from it. Its side motions were compared to 



THE TORNADO. 



those of an elephant's trunk. This action 
was like the descending tube in a nearly 
completed water-spout at sea. 

Width. Measuring on the line S. by E. 
and N. by W., which is at right angles 
to the central line of motion, I took 
the outer southern and northern edges, 
where marks of violence were unequivo- 
cally left ; such marks as the breaking of 
limbs of trees, bending of fences, prostrat- 
ing of corn or unhinging of a window-blind. 
At Mystic river its width was seventy-one 
rods ; at the Lowell R. R. depot, sixty rods. 
Between these places it moved over an al- 
most perfect level. At Miss Brooks' it was 
fifty-four rods wide ; and here it crossed the 
hill on which her house stands, which is 
perhaps fifty feet above the level of the 
river at low tide. At Messrs. Swan's and 
Hall's land, at the " meeting-house brook," 
it was seventy-six rods. Here it moved 
over a small valley. In Mrs. Porter's wood- 
lot it was fifty- six rods. At Dr. Kidder's 
on Andover turnpike it was fifty-four 
rods. At Fulton street I could not ascer- 



10 THE T RNADO. 

tain its width with perfect accuracy, but 
think it was not much over forty rods. 

Connected with the subject of width is 
this fact ; — that, in several places the dis- 
tance from the centre to the outer southern 
edge is from eighteen to twenty-five rods 
further than from the centre to the northern 
edge. At one place the ravages on each 
side were nearly equidistant from the cen- 
tre ; but in all the other cases of measure- 
ment, the statement above was verified. 

Another fact connected with the subject 
of width is this, — that it seemed to dart off 
on each side, at unusual distances, and do 
violence in a narrow-pathed excursion ; — 
or, rather (to speak more intelligibly) there 
seemed to be some strata of air, on its outer 
borders, more ready to rush in toward the 
central line of march than contiguous stra- 
ta. This is shown many times in orchards, 
where rows of trees stood at right angles, or 
nearly so, to the central line ; some entire 
rows were prostrated, while their nearest 
neighbors on each side remained unmoved. 
The violence, in these narrow pencils of 



THE TORNADO. 11 

wind, seems to have been as great twenty 
rods from the centre as it was within two 
or three rods. This rush of wind in veins, 
from the outer edges to the centre, is marked 
over the whole route. It reminds one of 
flashing pencils of electricity. 

Speed. The agitation of mind in those 
persons, who were within reach of the tor- 
nado and felt its power, was too great and 
lasting to enable them to measure its velo- 
city with reliable precision. If an individ- 
ual on " Prospect Hill " had seen it through 
five or ten miles of its march, such an indi- 
vidual might guess at the speed with the 
best chance of accuracy; but, after all, it 
could be only a guess. A few facts may help 
us in guessing. Mr. West, who was build- 
ing a house for Mr. Haskins, saw it coming 
from West Cambridge, and watched it with 
anxiety. As soon as he saw it destroy the 
new house west of the Lowell R. R. depot, 
he sprang out of the house where he was, 
and ran, as he says, " for his life," to shel- 
ter himself behind a wall only five rods dis- 
tant from the place where he started. He 



12 THE TORNADO. 

had scarcely got to his shelter when the 
house he had left was entirely destroyed. 
He thinks there could not have been over 
five or six seconds between the falling of 
the two buildings. I was in my sister's 
house at the time ; saw it but an instant 
before it struck the house. I rushed to lock 
the front door, and at the moment we felt 
the first shock, I cried out violently to the 
family, that " all was over." I opened the 
door and sprang upon the bank over which 
its centre had just passed and looked for it. 
It had gone at least a mile before I could 
reach the place, though the distance from 
the house was not three rods. It seemed to 
me but a breath of time ; and now, after re- 
viewing the facts, I cannot persuade myself 
that its speed at that place was less than 
fifty miles per hour. 

Power. They, who, like us, were in it, 
and have seen its terrible ravages, need not 
be told that it exhibited a power in the 
elements never witnessed by the oldest in- 
habitant of this region. Houses strongly 
built were demolished, as if they had been 



THE TORNADO. 13 

made of paper. Oak and walnut and cedar 
trees, of the largest growth, were entirely 
uprooted, some of them snatched out of the 
ground and carried through long distances; 
roofs of buildings taken up, as by sudden 
suction, and carried into the embrace of the 
cloud, and transported for miles. The roof 
of Miss Brooks' house was seen to go thus ; 
and although every beam and rafter went 
with it, we have not yet been able to find 
even a shingle of it, though we have search- 
ed through three miles. Its action upon the 
grass and corn was remarkable. It not 
only prostrated them, but partly buried 
them in the earth. The fields in this re- 
spect looked as if a heavy roller had passed 
over them. 

Its action upwards was yet more remark- 
able. No one saw any object driven down- 
ward by it ; but all testify to its taking 
things up. To name a few instances. Shin- 
gles and boards and rafters and slates, 
which are known to have belonged to cer- 
tain houses, were found two or three miles 
from the places. A tree of very large size 
in Miss Brooks' orchard, was decapitated ; 
2 



14 THE TORNADO. 

the trunk now stands erect, but the top was 
taken up and carried off and never has been 
found. So there are instances, in every lo- 
cality, of objects taken up and transported 
through great distances. One witness says 
she saw the large barn, owned by Miss 
Brooks, rise in the air and then fall in ruins. 
There is evidence yet remaining that this 
large barn, built of heavy timber and plank, 
was taken up and then carried fifteen feet 
before it was torn to pieces. Many build- 
ings were moved in a similar manner. A 
freight car, which was standing upon the 
side track of the Lowell R. R. near the 
depot, was driven upon that track one hun- 
dred and sixty-five feet, and then taken up 
and carried sixty feet E. nearly at right an- 
gles to the track. At Doct. Kidder's a thick, 
strong brick wall was thrown down ten feet 
from its foundation ; some of the bricks 
carried to a great distance. A pine tree ten 
inches in diameter, was broken off, then 
carried some hundred feet into the air, and 
then thrown through the roof and window 
of Doct. K.'s house. His lightning rods 
were much bent. 



THE TORNADO. 15 

Another trace of power, left behind by 
the tornado, is seen in the small fragments 
into which it shattered every fragile thing. 
It seemed to act upon a building as a mill 
grinds whatever is put into it. If every 
square foot of atmosphere in the column 
had been armed with a steel tooth, and the 
buildings and trees, which went into it, 
could have passed through it, it could not 
have shivered them to smaller pieces. I 
leave to poets to describe the powers and 
terrors of this phenomenon, while to me it 
seems like a large storm intensified. The 
winds which, if spread over two hundred 
miles, would have made a severe storm 
throughout that extent, seemed concentrated 
within as many yards. 

Direction in which trees and vegetables 
were thrown. With regard to this part of 
the subject, I would state, as the general 
fact , that there was uniformity in the direc- 
tions in which objects were thrown. Under 
similar circumstances similar appearances 
exhibit themselves. For example — with 
respect to trees; they which were standing 



16 THE TORNADO. 

in the centre of the line of march, suppos- 
ing that centre to be a line running W. by S. 
and E. by N., lie coincident with that line. 
They, which were nearest to this line on 
each side of 'it lie nearly parellel with 
it, but not exactly. They on the north 
side of the centre point to spaces between 
E. by N. and E., while they on the south 
side point to spaces between E. by N. 
and E. N. E. They on the north side, 
which are further yet from the centre, 
and next to those last mentioned, point 
to spaces between E. and E. S. E., while 
the corresponding ones, on the south side, 
point to spaces between E. N. E. and N. 
E. They which are further still from 
the centre, on the north side, lie pointing to 
spaces between E. S. E. and S. E. by S., 
while they in corresponding distances, on 
the south side, lie pointing to spaces between 
N. E. and N. by E. They, on the north 
side, which are furthest from the centre, lie 
pointing to spaces between S. E. by S. and 
S. by E., while they at similar distances from 
the centre, on the south side, lie pointing to 



THE TORNADO. 17 

spaces between N. by E. and N. by W. 
Those trees which lie pointing S. by E. and 
N. by W. lie at right angles to the central 
line of march, and of course lie pointing 
in exactly opposite directions. Nine-tenths 
of the trees prostrated by the tornado, lie 
in the positions above designated. They, 
which are not directly upon the central line, 
lie pointing to that line. This is true of 
the trees and shrubs and corn and grass up 
to 90° distant from the point E. by N., 
on each side ; and there, at 90° from that 
point, they stop ; all being included within 
E. by N. and S. by E. on one side, and 
within E. by N., and N. by W. on the 
other ! 

The above statements record the general 
facts respecting the directions in which trees 
and other vegetables were thrown by the 
tornado. It seems as if a vacuum had 
travelled, (if we can say so,) fifteen or 
twenty miles from W. by S. to E. by N., 
and the wind had rushed in with violence, 
not only behind it, but on each side towards 
2* 



18 THE TORNADO. 

its central line of motion, prostrating the 
trees in the manner above stated. 

Of the remaining one-tenth part of the 
trees and objects, thrown about by the tor- 
nado, a very different statement must be 
made. The following facts carefully veri- 
fied, as the others were, by personal exam- 
ination, seem to contradict them all. Those 
trees and objects are selected, which most 
clearly show the course of the wind at the 
places signalized ; and which seemed most 
important for illustrating all the phenomena. 
The direction in which trees lie are not 
given in degrees, presuming that the minute 
divisions, named in the compass, would 
express the facts with sufficient accu- 
racy. 

Beginning at Mystic river, near the "Wear 
bridge," we find many trees prostrate. On 
the bank of the river lie four large apple 
trees pointing thus : 1st, Three rods north of 
the central line of march, points E. by N. 
2d., Three and a half rods south of centre, 
points E. N. E. 3d, Eight and a half rods 
south of centre, N. E. 4th, Fifteen and a 
half rods south of centre, N. E. by E. 



THE TORNADO. 19 

Another apple tree, eighteen rods south of 
the centre and not far from the river, and 
being the outside tree in that latitude, lies 
pointing E. N. E. In the same orchard a 
large apple tree, at the centre, (if I fixed 
that point rightly,) lies pointing N. E. by E. 
One and a half rod N. E. by E. from this, 
lies another large apple tree N. E. by E. 
One rod exactly N. of this last, lies an apple 
tree broken at the ground and not rooted up, 
pointing exactly E., its head under the head 
of its neighbor ! A large walnut tree about 
twenty-five rods north of centre, points S. S. 
E. ; while a double apple tree, eleven and a 
half rods south of it, points due S. In the 
same orchard an apple tree, twenty-four 
rods south of centre, points N. E. by E. 
Another large apple tree, eight rods south of 
centre, points N. E., while another apple 
tree, near by and at the centre, points N. E. 
by E. ; and a cherry tree, sixteen rods S. of 
centre, points S. E. by E. In this locality 
there are instances of trees lying N. E. by N. 
and E. N. E., though not more than one or 
two rods apart ; trees moreover of nearly 
the same size. In this district, also, through 



20 THE TORNADO. 

a field of seventy-five acres, stand apple 
trees unmoved and uninjured, while all their 
nearest neighbors lie prostrate and broken. 
In this same level field is a high wooden 
bridge crossing the Middlesex canal, and 
exposed apparently to the full sweep of the 
gust, which was not moved or injured. 
More wonderful yet; at the side of this 
bridge is a small wooden bath-house, so 
light that three men might carry it away, 
and so frail that one might think that a 
Chinese fan applied with energy might blow 
it over, this building stands untouched, 
though nearer the centre than is the bridge. 

Near the Lowell R. R. depot the tornado 
seemed to narrow its action and increase its 
violence. A tree there, two and a half rods 
from centre, points E. S. E.. while in the 
same range another tree, of same size, and 
five and a quarter rods from centre, points 
S. E. by S., which is almost at a right an- 
gle to the centre. 

In Miss Brooks' garden the trees, to the 
number of fifty or more, lie according to the 
general statement made at first, with one or 
two exceptions, A locust tree, nine and a 



THE TORNADO. 21 

quarter rods from centre, points N. W., 
while a cherry tree that lies vpon it, points 
S. S. E. One rod south of centre, a cherry 
tree points N. E. by E. Twenty-eight rods 
north of centre stands the trunk of the 
large apple tree, before noticed, whose top 
went up leaving few marks of violence in 
the part which remains. 

In Mr. Alfred Brooks' garden, three or 
four rods north of the centre, within a cir- 
cle whose diameter is thirty-five feet, lie six 
trees thus, — three point E. N. E. ; one E. ; 
one S. E. by S. ; and one, which is fifteen 
feet N. of the others, S. by W. 

In Mr. Swan's field, near " meeting-house 
brook," four elm trees stood in a row upon 
a line running nearly E. and W. The most 
western tree was the smallest, and they in- 
creased in size as they stood nearer to the 
E. The last one was three feet in diameter, 
three feet from the ground ; and it contains, 
I should judge, eight cords of wood. It was 
further from the W. than any of its neigh- 
bors by twenty feet, and yet it fell before any 
of them, and it fell in a direction very dif- 
ferent from any of them. These elms were 



22 THE TORNADO. 

not far from the centre, yet the eastern one 
and the largest fell pointing N. by W., while 
the next one west of it, which was eighteen 
inches in diameter and twenty feet distant, 
fell pointing E. N. E. Its body lies upon 
the roots of the great elm. Another, twenty 
feet W. of the last, points E., and lies over 
the lowest part of the trunk of the great 
elm. The last and smallest fell pointing E. 
Here we see four large elms, which stood in 
a row running E. and W. all prostrated ; 
the one farthest from the place whence 
the tornado came falls towards the N., 
while the other three lie upon it and fell 
towards the E. The elm next to the large 
one fell before its western neighbor, and 
the most western fell last. Two and a 
quarter rods S. E. by S. from the great elm, 
an apple tree points N. E. Thus within a 
circle, whose diameter is less than four rods, 
we find five trees, thus placed by the wind. 
These trees were in a gentle valley and no 
high lands near. 

In Mr. P. C. Hall's orchard, which is in 
the same valley and not more than twenty 
rods distant from the great elm, there was 



THE TORNADO. 23 

great diversity in the position of the trees. 
A large apple tree, fifteen rods N. of centre, 
points S. S. W. Several trees in a row N. 
of centre lie pointing S. E. by S. Some of 
these are within one rod of centre, while 
others distant from them not more than a 
a rod W. or E., lie pointing E. by S. Five 
and six rods S. S. E. from the last men- 
tioned, and three rods S. of centre, lies an 
apple tree N. N. E. A large apple tree, 
three and a half S. of centre, lies N. by E. ; 
while another apple tree, only two and a 
half rods S. W. by S. from it, lies S. S. W., 
which direction is nearly the reverse of the 
last mentioned. Ten and a half rods N. E. 
from the last named apple tree lies another 
S. S. E. Five and three quarter rods E. 
from this last lies an apple tree N. W. Five 
and a half rods E. N. E. from this lies an 
apple tree, S. E. by S., which is almost di- 
rectly opposite the last mentioned. Seven 
and a half rods south of this lie four large 
trees about E. N. E. All these trees with 
their remarkable differences of position, lie 
within an acre of land. 

In the wood lot of Mrs. Porter, which 



24 THE TORNADO. 

may be half a mile or less from Mr. Hall's 
orchard, we find a willow tree four feet in 
diameter, the largest in diameter of all the 
trees prostrated by the tornado, pointing N. 
by E., while another willow of equal size, 
only four rods west of it, stands unmoved 
and almost unbroken. Both these trees are 
nearly upon the central line of march, and 
both in a small valley equally exposed. 
Three and a half rods N. E. from the stand- 
ing willow lies a large cedar pointing W. 
by N. 

Following the track of the wind, we find 
in the eastern part of Mrs. Porter's lot, sev- 
eral trees lying in very varying positions. 
Ten rods north of centre lies a large cedar 
pointing W. Covering the roots of this lie 
two cedars pointing S. E. by S. Near this 
group lie nine cedars all in much of the like 
diversity. In the same neighborhood, at or 
near the centre, within a circle whose di- 
ameter is four rods, lie large cedars, as fol- 
lows : — No 1, apparently at the centre, lies 
N. W. exactly. At its base lie three smaller 
cedars E. by S., which is almost in an op- 
posite direction. The trunks of these trees 



THE TORNADO. 25 

were not more than four feet apart, when 
standing. A low wall separated the three 
smaller trees from the larger. Here we see 
four trees standing together ; one is thrown 
nearly W., and the others thrown nearly E. 
They were not far from the same height. — 
No. 2. Three rods N. N. W. ; from the last 
mentioned group lies a large cedar E. S. E. 
— No. 3. Another cedar whose trunk, when 
standing was only six feet from No. 2, lies 
E. N. E. — No. 4. One and three quarter 
rod N. of No. 3, lies a large cedar S. W. 
almost the opposite of No. 3. — No. 5. Two 
and three quarter rods N. E. of No. 3, lies a 
large cedar pointing W. exactly. 

In Mr. Dudley Hall's wood lot most of 
the trees lie pointing to the central line of 
march, according to the general statement. 
They lie at angles more or less acute, ac- 
cording to their nearness to that centre. At 
this place lies a large cedar, five and three 
quarter rods S. from centre, which is twisted 
just half round. The twist is from the S. 
towards the E. and from the E. towards the 
N. just half a revolution. It fell upon a 
high and heavy wall, which was leaning 
3 



26 THE TORNADO. 

against its trunk. It points N. N. E. A 
tall buttonwood tree, one and a quarter rod 
E. from the twisted cedar, lies E. Near by- 
lies a very large cedar pointing N. E. by E. ; 
it fell across a wall, and its trunk is split 
lengthwise, for several feet, into twenty or 
thirty layers ; but it is not twisted in the 
least. In this lot stands the oldest and 
largest oak tree in Medford. It had little ox 
no head to lose, or the tornado would have 
decapitated it. Though standing on a hill 
and near the centre it remains unmoved. 
Just beyond it easterly is a steep descent into 
a small valley, twenty feet deep perhaps. 
This valley was filled with oaks, walnuts, 
cedars, &c. Most of them were uprooted ; 
while smaller trees, which stood more ex- 
posed upon the hill, escaped unhurt. Some 
of these trees lie in remarkable positions. 
A large cedar, not far from centre, lies N. by 
W. Six feet N. by W. from the last men- 
tioned, lies another large cedar E. N. E. 
Three feet N. by W. from this last, lies 
another large cedar exactly E. 

After this havoc in the valley, the tornado 
passed over fifty or sixty rods of deep 



THE TORNADO. 27 

woods, prostrating only here and there a 
tall tree, and apparently not moving the 
many standing by their sides. 

At Doct. Kidder's the trees lie mostly ac- 
cording to the general statement. In Mr. 
Page's grounds next to Andover turnpike, 
an immense elm tree, not far from the centre, 
lies N. E. by N. A cherry tree, near the 
road and about at the centre, lies E. by S., 
while two and three quarter rods E. S. E. 
from said cherry tree, lies an apple tree, N. 
exactly. 

Following the track E. by N., from this 
place the usual appearances exhibit them- 
selves. Here and there it seemed to dip 
down and do its work of ruin, and then rise 
and go over acres doing little or no in- 
jury. 

At the point where it crossed Fulton 
street, its width seemed less than at any 
previous place, and its violence less diffu- 
sive. Striking the steep hill, at the E. of 
the road, it selected some large cedars, and 
a very large walnut tree and prostrated 
them entirely. At this place I found some 
exceptions to the truth of the general state- 



28 THE TORNADO. 

ment. Among these exceptions to the gen- 
eral position of the prostrate trees, there are 
some remarkable instances. But there is a 
cedar upon the hill, which lies E. by N., 
and being at the centre, lies according to 
the general statement ; while another cedar, 
one and a quarter rods N. of this, lies W. 
N. W. Two and a quarter rods N. of this 
last, lies a cedar only 5° S. of W. Two 
rods S. of the cedar, first named upon the 
hill, lies a large oak N. E. by N. 

In the forest, eighty rods E. from Fulton 
street, it prostrated six or eight very large 
trees, of oak and locust, and they all lie on 
the N. of the centre, pointing nearly N. N. W. 
Near them, in a S. S. W. direction, lies a 
large tree pointing N. E. by E. Here in 
a dense forest, only a few trees were 
prostrated, while hundreds immediately be- 
side them remain untouched. It selected 
some of the loftiest oaks, only breaking off 
the tops of some, though generally uproot- 
ing them entirely. 

The track of the tornado from Miss 
Brooks' to Fulton street, was over an un- 
even, but not hilly surface. None of the 



THE TORNADO. 29 

elevations are more than twenty-five or 
thirty feet. Part of the territory was open 
and cleared land and part was well wooded. 

Direction in which buildings were thrown. 
The directions in which buildings were 
thrown were according to the general state- 
ment, before made, if we confine that state- 
ment to large masses. With regard to small 
objects the remark does not hold good. 

In the tossing about of roofs and the sides 
of buildings, in the air, it is to be considered 
that the wind must act upon them some- 
what differently from what it does upon a 
tree. Roofs, boards, shingles, slates, &c, 
present wide and compact surfaces ; and if 
their parts hold together, they might be 
driven by a controlling force on one side, 
which would shoot them in very different 
directions, and sometimes force them far 
from the line which a small and round body 
would be compelled to take. The direc- 
tion in which trees and chimneys lie, at 
any place, would more accurately indicate 
the exact course of the wind at that place, 
than the direction in which roofs or slates 
3* 



30 THE TORNADO. 

could. A tree, which is thrown down and 
yet held by its roots, will indicate the exact 
direction in which the prostrating power 
acted ; as the position of a ship at anchor 
in tide waters will indicate the exact course 
of the current. The zig-zag pitchings of a 
flat, extended surface, in a high wind, may 
be seen in a boy's kite, when, high in air, it 
happens to lose its tail. By its descent, af- 
ter such a loss, who could tell exactly which 
way the wind blew ? 

The roof of Mr. Sanford's shed, at the 
Lowell R. R. depot, though a few feet north 
of the centre, was thrown twenty-five or 
thirty feet N. E., and rested at the foot of a 
tree which pointed E. by S. The roof of 
Mr. Pierpont's house, though six rods N. of 
the centre, was carried towards the centre 
with such violence as to shoot it beyond 
that centre nearly five rods, and it rested at 
the foot of a prostrate tree, which pointed 
E. N. E. The slates from this roof were 
separated from it probably while at its 
greatest elevation, and at that moment, be- 
ing near the centre, they were broken and 
carried as destructive missiles in every di- 



THE TORNADO. 31 

rection. I found some of them a mile dis- 
tant from their starting point. Beams and 
rafters of large size were carried in the air 
to great distances; and whenever any such 
object acquired a momentum sufficient to 
force it out from the bosom of the torna- 
do, it fell with exceeding violence, penetrat- 
ing buildings and breaking off large trees. 
The direction in which such beams were 
thrown to the earth would indicate the di- 
rection of the wind at the place where they 
descended, but might not show its direction 
at the place where they were first taken up. 

Miscellaneous Items. There were many 
who thought that the apples lying upon the 
ground at the time, were baked on their 
south side by the heat in the wind. That 
most apples, so situated among us, were 
found so baked is true; but whether the 
sun had not previously done this, according 
to his usual action in a mid-summer drought, 
is what we leave others to decide. No one 
who was in the wind felt any baking heat 
during its passage. If there had been heat, 
sufficient to bake apples to the extent as- 



6Z THE TORNADO. 

serted, that heat must have scorched the 
leaves and grass, and would probably have 
set fire to hay or shavings. 

Whirl. I find but one tree twisted by 
the wind, and that is a large cedar, five and 
three quarter rods south of centre, and it 
lies pointing N. N. E. It was south of a 
large wall, in contact with which it stood 
and across which it fell. It is twisted 
just half a revolution. Whether the fall- 
ing of trees next it, or trees thrown out 
of the tornado, or any such cause, could 
have given it the whirling motion, it is im- 
possible to say. No evidence of any such 
forcible action upon it is discoverable. It 
was a tall tree, but not so tall as the but- 
tonwoods, three or four rods east of it, 
which stood equally exposed. Throughout 
the track in Medford I find no evidence of a 
rotary motion in the force which prostrated 
the buildings, trees, &c. There may have 
been, in the moving cloud, a swift and con- 
stant motion, round a perpendicular centre ; 
but this revolving whirlwind did not blow 
down the trees and corn. If it had done 



THE TORNADO. 33 

so, the trees and corn would have lain in 
curves and circles corresponding to the di- 
rection of the force ; whereas they all lie 
straight. Large fields of corn, through 
every part, showed the motion of a force 
acting in straight lines. I could not find 
any trace of a curve. The ground and 
grass were definitely marked in extensive, 
open fields, and no sign of curvilinear mo- 
tion could be detected. All showed straight 
lines of march towards the central line. 
Upon the central line, where the apex of 
the inverted cone just touched the earth, 
there we should expect to find trees twisted 
off; but 1 find not one. All, on this line, 
lie thrown down without any trace of a 
whirl in the power that prostrated them. 
In most of them the bark upon the west 
side is scraped lengthwise, up and down, 
with no mark of circular motion. Two 
facts more may be added here. Large trees, 
which were broken off from five to ten feet 
from the ground, exhibit uniform testimony. 
The sap-wood, on the west side, did not 
break so readily as the interior layers, and 
therefore it was pealed off in strings ; these 



34 THE TORNADO. 

strings remain erect as they grew, and show- 
no trace of twist or revolution. Twenty- 
eight rods north of centre stands erect the 
trunk of a large apple tree in Miss Brooks' 
orchard, before mentioned. The top of this 
tree was taken up, perpendicularly I pre- 
sume, for the shreds and layers of the sap- 
wood stand pointing upward as they grew, 
showing no vestige of bending or contor- 
tion. 

The inverted cone of wind and cloud, as 
it travelled through its course, may have 
revolved round a perpendicular axis, as 
many assert it did. I know not why it 
should, or why it should not. Having no 
theory to patronize or decry, I readily ac- 
cede to the testimony in this particular, 
leaving disputants to classify the facts as 
they may. But I would suggest this idea; 
if a beholder should see such a tornado 
coming towards him or going from him, he 
would see objects projected into it from both 
sides of it ; and these opposite motions would 
give the appearance of a whirl or rotation, 
although the objects may be moving in 
straight lines. The inverted cone, what- 



THE TORNADO. 35 

ever may have been its composition, form 
or motion, left behind it a vacuum of such 
a character as to force the wind, after it and 
on each side of it, with a violence sufficient 
to uproot the strongest oaks ; and the mo- 
tion of these inrushing columns of air was 
in straight lines ; and they were generally 
towards the centre of the line of march. 

In Mr. Hastings' orchard, S. of his house, 
on the banks of the Mystic river, stood 
a large old apple tree. This tree was 
seventy-four and a half rods S. S. E. of 
what seemed to be the outer southern edge 
of the tornado ; nevertheless it was behead- 
ed, split and lies pointing exactly E. A 
hundred trees in its immediate vicinity 
were equally exposed, yet remain un- 
touched. 

The effect on some trees is worthy of 
record. A large horse chesnut tree, near 
the brook in Mr. Usher's land, was decapi- 
tated, leaving only a few small limbs at- 
tached to the lower part of the trunk. With- 
in a week after the tornado the buds on these 



36 THE TORNADO. 

limbs began to swell, new leaves soon ap- 
peared, and then blossoms ; so that on the 
16th September, twenty-five days after its 
decapitation, it displayed ten or twelve full- 
grown blossoms. I regret that some of 
these blossoms were not allowed to remain, 
in order to see how soon a perfect nut 
would have been formed under these extra- 
ordinary circumstances. 

The action of the wind was searching 
indeed, and many strange movements were 
its result. In a small room, four rods S. of 
centre, was an engraved likeness of Pres. 
Fillmore pasted strongly upon a rough 
plastered wall. Around it were many other 
engravings of like size. This room was so 
situated that the wind came in at a west 
door and went out at an east window. The 
wind selected his Excellency's head, took 
it from the wall without tearing it or soil- 
ing it in the least, and having carried it 
through an open window, transported it 
more than a quarter of a mile and deposited 
it in the garden of a friend, who returned 
it safely, to be again fastened in its place. 



THE TORNADO. 37 

Political prophets may tell us what this 
foreshadows. 

In the middle of Mr. H. Whittemore's 
house in West Cambridge, in the second 
story, there is a door in whose top are six 
small panes of glass. This door is exactly 
opposite the front window, which was blown 
in during the tornado. Before the six 
panes of glass hung a white cloth curtain. 
Through this curtain was perforated a small 
ragged hole not larger than a pea. Directly 
behind this hole the pane of glass is perfo- 
rated, and a hole is left almost as large as a 
half dollar. This hole in the glass was 
nearly round ; and its edges, instead of be- 
ing sharp as broken glass is, seem melted 
into roundness. Moreover, for a quarter of 
an inch round the edges of this hole, there 
is a thin wavy layer of apparently melted 
glass. A few cracks in the glass ray off 
from the centre of the hole. Since the "tor- 
nado a piece of glass, which was loose, has 
been taken out, thus destroying so far the 
circular form of the hole and the wavy lay- 
ers which bounded it. We hope that many 
4 



38 THE TORNADO. 

will examine this singular fact, especially 
in connection with electricity, and show us 
how the glass could have been melted and 
the cloth remain unscorched. 

To enumerate all the strange facts con- 
nected with the tornado would fill pages : 
but I must leave them. I cannot, however, 
omit the mention of the sympathy shown 
for the sufferers. Five or six individuals 
were more or less injured in body. Mrs. 
Caldwell was taken up by the wind and 
carried over fences and trees, through a dis- 
tance of one hundred and fifty feet, and safe- 
ly deposited by the side of a neighbor's barn. 
Strange to say, she was only bruised a little. 
Such was the suddenness and force of the 
motion that she can give but an imperfect 
account of her aerial excursion. Two men 
at work upon a new house were thrown sev- 
eral rods, and one was injured considerably. 
The son of Mr. Sanford was thrown upon 
the ground, and while there, his father's 
house, which was moved seventeen feet 
from its foundation, came down upon his 
legs, and so crushed both feet as to render 



THE TORNADO. 39 

their amputation necessary. He was taken 
to the Massachusetts General Hospital, and 
there has recovered rapidly. The fortitude 
and patience of this excellent young man, 
under his severe deprivations, are worthy of 
all praise. 

Mr. Huffmaster was so deeply wounded 
by the blows received from the falling tim- 
bers of his house, that he was unable to 
give any account of his situation, and after 
remaining almost insensible for a day, ex- 
pired, leaving behind him the character of 
an industrious man, a friendly neighbor, an 
attentive husband, and kind father. 

It would not accord with my sense of 
justice, or with what I think are the sen- 
timents of the sufferers by the tornado, if I 
should omit to say, that the neighbors, who 
had been spared from the terrible visitation, 
came with promptness to the aid of those 
in trouble, and seemed most anxious, by 
their personal presence, to do all that hu- 
man hands could do to alleviate the horrors 
of the scene. The sympathy was deep and 
the succor spontaneous. Many a heart has 
been made lastingly grateful by this timely 



40 THE TORNADO. 

arid efficient aid from friends, who, besides 
the gifts of money, employed their hired 
men and their teams for more than a week 
in relieving distress, and in securing property 
which must otherwise have been lost. 

I must also pay a tribute of respect to the 
people of Medford who were sufferers by 
this visitation. One and all have sustained 
their losses, met their disappointments, and 
borne their sorrows with a true Christian 
heroism, worthy of all honor. They see, 
in the event, an extraordinary exhibition of 
a great law of nature ; and they bow sub- 
missive to nature's GOD. 

Respectfully submitted, 

CHAS. BROOKS. 

Boston, Oct 30, 1851. 



THE TORNADO. 41 



REPORT OF COMMITTEE ON APPRAISALS. 

At a meeting of the citizens of West 
Medford, on the evening of August 28th, 
the subscribers were appointed a Commit- 
tee to appraise the damage in the town 
of Medford, caused by a tornado which 
passed over the neighborhood on the after- 
noon of Friday, August 22d. 

That Committee have carefully and mi- 
nutely examined the whole course of the 
tornado, and collected from individual suf- 
ferers such facts relating to it as they 
had to communicate, and the result of their 
inquiries and estimates shows a damage 
amounting in all to $18,768, viz :— 

Buildings and fences, . $11,691 

Fruit trees, 

Ornamental trees, 

Fruits, crops, &c, 

Miscellaneous articles, 



4,755 
800 
460 

1.062 



418,768 
4* 



42 THE TORNADO. 

The amount of individual losses, as esti- 
mated by the Committee, is as follows : — 



$25,00 



Edward Brooks — 






Barn, 


. 


. 


Estate belonging 


to T. P. S 


VIITH 


and others — 






Buildings, 


. 


300,00 


Fruit trees, 


. 


600,00 


Carriages, 


, . 


75,00 


Vegetables, 


• 


10,00 



Charles Rollins — 
Two dwelling houses, unfinished, 
which Mr. Rollins was building 
by contract, both entirely de- 
molished, including, in one 
case, the cellar wall. One of 
these buildings was on the 
property belonging- to T. P. 
Smith and others, . 4,320,00 

The other was for the Rev. Mr. 

Haskins, . . 1,450,00 



985,00 



5,770,00 



House building by J. F. Ed- 
ward, on property belonging 
to T. P. Smith and others, . 12,00 

Boston & Lowell Railroad Co. — 

Freight car blown from track and 
buildings injured, , 40,00 



THE TORNAITO. 43 

J. M. Usher — 

Buildings, . . 442.00 

Fruit trees, . . 30,00 

Fruit, 

Ornamental tree, (horsechesnut,) 50,00 



L. B. Usher — 

Buildings, . . . 50,00 

Fruit trees and fruit, . 58,00 

Ornamental trees, (elm in road and 

horsechesnut,) . . 100,00 



Heirs of Leonard Bucknam — 




Buildings and fences, 


450,00 


Fruit trees, 


25,00 


J. M. Sanford — 




Fence, 


10,00 


Vegetables, 


5,00 


Furniture and clothing, 


150,00 


Carriages, . 


75,00 


H. T. Nutter — 




Vegetables, 


5,00 


Furniture and clothing, 


400,00 


Joseph Wyatt — 




Buildings, . 


250,00 


Fruit trees, 


150,00 


Fruit, 


10,00 



522,00 



208,00 



475,00 



240,00 



405-,00 



410,00 



44 THE TORNADO. 

Town of Medford — 
Buildings, (School and Poor house 



fences, &c.,) 


. 


410,00 


Ornamental trees, 


. . 


50,00 


Fruit trees, 


TON — 


50,00 


George E. Harring 




Buildings, . 


. 


30,00 


Fruit trees, 


• • 


50,00 


Fruit, 


• 


8,00 


J. Vreeland — 




Fruit trees, 


. 


150,00 


Fruit, 


• 


12,00 



A. L. Fitzgerald, (house slightly 
damaged,) 

Samuel Teel, Jr. — 

Buildings, . . . 800,00 

Fruit trees, . . 200,00 

Fruit, vegetables and hay, 61,00 

Wagons, furniture, &c, . 120,00 



510,00 



88,00 



162,00 



George Caldwell — 




House, 


25,00 


Fruit trees, 


20,00 


George F. Lane — 




Buildings, . 


600,00 


Fruit trees, 


250,00 


Vegetables, 


16,00 



1,181,00 



45,00 



866,00 



THE TORNADO. 



45 



Thomas Huffmaster — 
Buildings, . 
Fruit trees, 
Fruit and corn, 



Nathaniel Tracy — 
Fence, 

John W. Hastings — 
House and fence, 

Rev. John Pierpont — 
Buildings, . 
Fruit trees, 

Heirs of Jonathan Brooks- 
Buildings and fences, 
Fruit trees, 
Ornamental trees, 
Fruit, vegetables and hay, 
Carriages and hayrack, 



275,00 

500,00 

45,00 



Wellington Russell — 




Clothing and furniture, 




E. T. Hastings — 




Fences, 


30,00 


Fruit trees, 


100,00 


Fruit, 


20,00 


J. B. Hatch — 




Fences, 


5,00 


Fruit trees, 


75,00 


Fruit, 


25,00 



500,00 
100,00 

677,00 
500,00 
200,00 
80,00 
175,00 



820,00 
25,00 



150,00 



105,00 
10,00 

25,00 
600,00 



1,632,00 



46 



THE TORNADO. 



Alfred Brooks — 








Buildings, 


• 


350,00 




Fruit trees, 


• • 


100,00 


450,00 


Noah Johnson — 




Buildings, 


. 


445,00 




Hay and grain in barn, 


40,00 




Ox wagon and farm 


ing tools, 


42,00 


527,00 


James Wyman — 




Fruit trees, 


. 




30,00 


Moses Pierce — 








House, 


. 




25,00 


John V. Fletcher — 








House, 


. 


25,00 




Fruit trees, 


• 


20,00 


45,00 


Joseph Swan — 




Fruit trees, 


. 




20,00 


P. C. Hall— 








Fruit trees, 


. . 


920,00 




Ornamental trees, 


. 


50,00 




Fruit, 


• • 


80,00 


1,050,00 


Jonathan Porter — 




Fruit Trees, 


. . 


75,00 




Fruit, 


• 


35,00 


110 00 


William Roach — 








Fruit trees, 


• 




25,00 


Dudley Hall — 








Fruit trees, 


. 




25,00 



THE TORNADO. 




4/ 


Samuel Kidder — 








Buildings, . 


. 


50,00 




Fruit trees, 


. 


400,00 




Ornamental trees, 


• 


50,00 


500,00 






Thatcher R. Raymond — 








Fruit trees, 


. 


100,00 




Ornamental trees, 


. 


100,00 




Fences, 


• 


10,00 


210 00 


John A. Page— 






Ad 1 \J • \s \J 


Fruit trees, 


. 


150,00 




Ornamental trees, 


. 


50,00 




Fences, 


• 


50,00 


250,00 






Russell — 








Ornamental trees, 


. 




150,00 


Orchard, (east of Andover 


Turn 


pike,) 


40,00 



$ 18,768 

Eastward of the private road which 
passes the houses of Messrs. Porter and 
Lemist, is a tract (extending about half a 
mile) of uncultivated pasture and wood- 
land, over which the gust has left its mark 
by rending, breaking and overturning trees 
of every size and description, which were 
found lying in all positions ; some in the 
direction of the blast, and others at every 



48 THE TORNADO. 

angle with it. Here no damage was esti- 
mated, as the trees were useful only for 
timber or fuel, and for those purposes are 
nearly as valuable now as when standing. 

Although the Committee have exercised 
their best judgment in making this appraise- 
ment, it probably falls far short of the esti- 
mate of the injured parties, whose feelings, 
in some cases, have suffered more than their 
property. The extent of such injury none 
but the sufferers can determine. The Com- 
mittee were instructed to return only the 
pecuniary damage. 

Injury to person from this disaster was 
much less extensive than to property, and 
so far as the Committee are informed, was 
confined to the town of Medford and to a 
very narrow space in the immediate neigh- 
borhood of the station of the Boston and 
Lowell Railroad. Seven persons were more 
or less injured. One (Thomas Huffmaster) 
lost his life while occupied in closing his 
house against the storm. He was struck 
by part of the roof of a neighbor's barn, 
which was driven through the side of his 
house. He was taken up insensible, and 



THE TORNADO. 49 

so continued till his death, about thirty 
hours after. 

James S. Sanford, sou of the depot master 
of the Lowell Railroad, a fine youth of 
eighteen, lost both his feet. The house in 
which he lived was dislodged from its foun- 
dation, and as he was entering the door, he 
was thrown down, with the building rest- 
ing on his feet. They were both found so 
badly crushed as to require amputation, 
which was successfully performed the same 
evening, and he is now nearly recovered. 

A person in the employment of James M. 
Usher had his arm broken. 

A stranger was badly injured in the 
head, by the falling limb of a tree, — at 
first, it was thought dangerously, but he is 
now fast recovering. 

Mrs. Nutter, wife of H. T. Nutter, was at 
the time confined by illness to her chamber. 
In an instant the roof and most of the house 
was carried away, including the ceiling and 
two sides of the room she occupied, leaving 
her entirely unsheltered : yet she escaped 
with only a very slight injury. Her infant, 
5 



50 THE TORNADO. 

though since dead, is thought to have re- 
ceived no harm on that occasion. 

J. M. Sanford, the father of James, above- 
mentioned, was slightly injured in the neck. 

A mechanic at work in the attic of the 
unfinished building which was wholly de- 
molished, fell with the house, but received 
no other harm than a slight cut on the head. 
These are the only persons known to have 
been injured. 

The three most seriously hurt were taken 
at once (by the Lowell Railroad) to the 
Massachusetts General Hospital, where they 
not only have had the benefit of the best pro- 
fessional skill which the country affords, but 
have received attentions, appliances and 
comforts such as no private establishment 
can supply, and all this, as is believed, 
without charge. 

The examination was begun where the 
gale first struck the town, at its south-west 
border, on the property belonging to T. P. 
Smith and others, which is here bounded 
by the Mystic River. Its width on the 
margin of the river was 500 feet, and 
its northern edge fifty rods from the Wear 



THE TORNADO. 51 

Bridge, on the road to W. Cambridge. Its di- 
rection, with some strange deviations, was 
nearly E. N. E. The position of objects over- 
turned, and the course of those swept away, 
were quite irregular. Two large apple trees, 
on the estate next the river, were taken up 
by the roots and carried some twenty feet 
in a direction just opposite from that of the 
storm. A large part of the roof of Mr. 
Lane's barn and several feet of lead pipe 
from Rev. Mr. Pierpont's house, were car- 
ried more than 500 feet directly across its 
track, and many trees and other objects ap- 
parently in the midst of the current were 
left untouched, while others on its extreme 
verge were thrown down or swept away ; 
but these incidents belong rather to another 
Committee, who will give a scientific view 
of such phenomena as the case presents. 

Gorham Brooks, 

Chas. Caldwell, 

Franklin Patch, } Com'ee. 

Jeremiah Gilson, 

Albert Smith, J 



52 THE TORNADO, 



WEST CAMBRIDGE.. 

A meeting of the citizens of West Cam- 
bridge, was holden at the vestry of the Uni- 
tarian church in said town, on Monday 
evening, August 25th, three days after the 
tornado, at the request of the selectmen of 
the town, as announced from the pulpits of 
the several religious societies the Sabbath 
before. On being called to order by Mansir 
W. Marsh, Esq., the chairman of the board 
of selectmen, and the object of the meeting 
having been briefly stated by him, Mr. Marsh 
was thereupon appointed President, and 
Moses Proctor, Secretary. 

The solemnity of the occasion which call- 
ed the citizens together seemed to pervade 
the minds of all present, and produced a 
pause more impressive than words could 
express. But after a few moments of most 
profound silence, Hon. James Russell was 
called upon to submit his views on the sub- 
ject matter of the meeting. Mr. Russell 



THE TORNADO. 53 

responded to the call, and in a feeling man- 
ner besought all present, as well as the 
whole people of the town, to acknowledge 
with unfeigned gratitude their absolute de- 
pendence upon God and to thank him for 
the preservation of their lives in the midst 
of the danger and peril through which they 
had so recently passed, with such other re- 
marks as were pertinent to the occasion. 
After which Mr. Russell introduced for the 
consideration of the meeting the following 
Preamble and Resolutions : 

Whereas, it hath pleased God to visit our 
town with a calamity unprecedented in this 
part of our country, filling our hearts and 
minds with terror and dismay, at the same 
time mingling mercy with judgment, in pre- 
serving our lives in the midst of danger, 
therefore 

Resolved, That it becomes us at all times 
to acknowledge our absolute dependence on 
God for every blessing, and that it especially 
becomes us at this time, having so recently 
witnessed his power and majesty, to ac- 
knowledge his great goodness in the preser- 
5* 



54 THE TORNADO. 

vation of our lives in the midst of most 
imminent danger. 

Resolved, That such of our citizens as 
have sustained severe losses in the prostra- 
tion of their buildings, the destruction of 
their fruit and ornamental trees, and other 
property, by the recent tornado, demand our 
sympathy and such pecuniary aid as their 
necessities may require and as we have it 
in our power to bestow. 

The foregoing Preamble and Resolutions 
having been read, several gentlemen ad- 
dressed the meeting in favor of their adop- 
tion, and they were unanimously adopted. 
It was then moved by Mr. Russell to open 
a subscription for the benefit of such of the 
sufferers as could not well sustain their re- 
spective losses, and a committee consisting 
of George C. Russell, Joseph O. Wellington, 
Samuel Butterfield, and Addison Hill, were 
chosen to solicit subscriptions. 

It was also voted to appoint a Committee 
of five persons to make an appraisement of 
the damages sustained, and Mansir W. 
Marsh, Lewis P. Bartlett, Moses Proctor, 



THE TORNADO. 5o 

(Selectmen,) and Albert Winn, and David 
Clark, were chosen. 

It was also voted to appoint a Committee 
to make a distribution of the moneys col- 
lected by subscription, not in proportion to 
losses sustained, but in proportion to the 
necessities of the respective sufferers; and 
James Russell, John Field, Abner Pierce, 
John Jarvis, George C. Russell, were cho- 
sen. 

Moses Proctor, Secretary. 

West Cambridge, August 25, 1851. 



REPORT ON APPRAISEMENT. 

The following is a Report of the Com- 
mittee appointed by the inhabitants of the 
town of West Cambridge to estimate the 
damages and loss of property to said inhab- 
itants and to the town, occasioned by a vi- 
olent tornado on the twenty-second day of 
August, 1851. 



56 THE TORNADO. 

James Brown — 

Damage to building, . . $35,00 

100 fruit trees, (more or less,) 750,00 

Damage to fruit and corn, . 20,00 



George Prentis & Son — 

To 133 apple and cherry trees, 
blown down, blown away, and 
otherwise injured, . . 800,00 

Eighty-two large forest and orna- 
mental trees, . . . 200,00 
Loss of present year's income 150,00 
Damage to house & cost of repairs, 160,00 



805,00 



Stephen Fogg, (tenant to James 
Brown,) — 
Loss on fruit and vegetables, 250,00 

George A. Locke — 

Damage to orchard . . 150,00 

Loss of fruit, . . . 10,00 



160,00 



Josiah L. Frost — 

Damage to orchard and trees des- 
troyed, .... 320,00 
Horace Wilson, (tenant to J. L. 
Frost) — 
Fruit destroyed, . . . 100,00 
Damage to orchard on the Barnes' 

place, 100,00 



200.00 



1310,00 



THE TORNADO. 57 

M. W. Marsh— 

16 large apple and 1 cherry trees, 120,00 
Loss of fruit and damage to vines, 40,00 



James Hill — 

Damage to apple orchard, . 200,00 
Loss of fruit and damage to vines, 50,00 



Oliver Russell — 

Damage to apple orchard, . 400,00 
" to fruit and vegetables, 50,00 



Thaddeus Frost — 

Damage to apple orchard, . 400,00 
Loss of apples, . . . 40,00 



William Hill, 2d — 

Damage to apple orchard, and loss 

of fruit trees, . . . 600,00 
Loss of fruit, .... 150,00 



Francis S. & Newell Frost — 

Damage to fruit trees, . . 300,00 

" to forest trees, . . 00,00 

Loss of present year's income, 100,00 



160,00 



J. V. Fletcher — 




250,00 


Damage to fruit trees, 




100,00 


James Wyman — 






Loss of fruit, 




45,00 


Wid. Amos Frost — 






Damage to apple orchard, 


. 300,00 




Damage to corn and fruit, 


30,00 





330,00 



450,00 



440,00 



- 750,00 



440,00 



58 THE TORNADO. 

Henry Frost — 

138 apple and pear trees blown 

down and otherwise injured, 1000,00 
Loss of fruit, . . . 150,00 



Jonathan Frost — 




J-i^UjV/V/ 


Sixty-three apple trees lost, 


630,00 




Forest trees .... 


20,00 


600,00 


Warren S. & Varnijm Frost — 




Damage to fruit, corn and vines, 




200 5 00 



Estate of David Hill, 

Damage to fruit trees and wood, 350,00 
Damage to fruit and vines, . 150,00 



Silas Frost — 

Damage to orcharding, . . 400 00 
" to fruit, . . . 75,00 



Edward Fillebrown — 
Damage to fruit and forest trees, 75,00 
Loss of fruit, .... 18,00 



Timothy Swan — 

Seventy-eight apple, five cherry, 

and two pear trees, . . 850,00 
Loss of fruit, . . . . 30,00 
Damage to buildings and cost of 

repairs, .... 60,00 



500,00 



475,00 



93,00 



940,00 
David W. Horton — 

Depreciation in value of estate, 400,00 



THE TORNADO. 59 

Charles Hill — 

Depreciation in value of estate, 460,00 

Loss of present year's income, 50,00 

510,00 

Mrs. Phebe Swan — 

Depreciation in value of estate, 1022,00 
Fruit lost, .... 50,00 

John Batcheldor — 
House damaged, 

William T. Dupee — 
House damaged, 

J. C. Waldo— 
House damaged, 

W. J. Lane — 

Fruit trees damaged and fruit lost, 

Mrs. Snelling — 
Damage to estate, 
Loss of fruit, 

Dr- Fisk— 

Damage to trees, 

Capt. Reuben Hopkins — 

Loss of fruit, &c. J . . . 
Damage to house and barn, 
Forty-nine fruit trees capsized and 
one missing, picked up next day in 

land of Dr. Fisk. Damage, 400,00 

112,00 





1072,00 




50,00 




10,00 




20,00 




115,00 


210,00 
10,00 


220,00 






36,00 


40,00 
2,00 


- 



60 THE TORNADO. 

Dr. Timothy Wellington — 
Damage to orcharding, ; 
Two chimneys blown down, 
Loss of fruit, .... 

Charles Griffiths — 
Damage to estate, 

Mr. Peck— 

Depreciation in value of estate, 

Timothy Whittemore — 

Damage to fence and fruit trees, 
George B. Richardson — 

Estate damaged, 

Loss of fruit, .... 

George H. Gray — 

Loss of trees and shrubbery, 
John Fowle — 

Damage to buildings and cost of 

repairs, .... 700^0 

Damage to fences, fruit and orna- 
mental trees, and loss of fruit, 400,00 

1,100,00 

Horatio Locke — 

Loss of fruit trees and fruit, . 105,00 

Michael M. Carthy — 

Loss of bed and clothing, . 25,00 

Rufus Damon — 

Damage to stable, . . . 60,00 

Damage to fruit trees, . . 100,00 

460,00 



400,00 




10,00 




37,00 






447,00 
100,00 






610,00 




212,50 


325,00 




35,00 






360,00 
50,00 





THE TORNADO. 61 

Mrs. P. Whittemore — 

Damage to estate, . . . 460,00 

Mrs. Rebecca Whittemore — 

House damaged, . . . 25,00 

William Clark — 

Damage to estate, . . . 200,00 

Thomas Thorp — 

Depreciation in value of estate, 500,00 

Loss of fruit, &c, . . . 15,00 



515,00 
Thomas E. Thorp — 

Damage to house, -. . . 200,00 

Daniel Burbeck — 

Damage to house, . . 100,00 

Mrs. Damon — 

Damage to estate, . . . 210,00 

Thomas H. Teel — 

Loss of trees, fruit and corn, . 50,00 

Fessenden & Whittemore — 

Loss of goods, furniture, and fix- 
tures of store, &c, . . 1000,00 
Damage to Centre School house, 124,00 
Damage to forest and ornamental 

trees in Spring Valley, - 50,00 

Estate of Henry Swan, . 40,00 

Gershom Whittemore — 

Damage to buildings and fences, 225,00 

Loss of fruit and ornamental trees, 165,00 



390,00 

Heney Whittemore — 

Damage to estate and loss of fruit, 615,00 

6 



62 THE TORNADO. 

William H. Whittemore — 

Depreciation in value of estate, 600,00 

Fruit and vegetables lost, . 100,00 

Injury to cow, . . . 50,00 



750,00 



John Fillebrown — 

Damage to estate and loss of pro- 
duce, 800,00 

Samuel C. Bucknam — 

Damage to estate and loss of car- 
riages, - 475,00 

Abel R. Proctor — 

Depreciation in value of estate, 260,00 

Damage and loss of fruit to sundry 

persons not enumerated, estimated 

at 500,00 

William Hill, 3d — 

Damage to estate and loss of fruit, 90,00 

Cornelius Akerman — Damage, 10,00 

John P. Daniels — 

Damage to machine shop, &c, 35,00 

Luke Agur — 

Damage to house and garden, 100,00 

Andrews Howe — 
Damage to house, . . . 25,00 

Thomas R. Cushing— 

Damage to estate, . . . 175,00 



THE TORNADO. 



63 



40,00 



125,00 



200,00 

Whole amount of damages and loss of property 
sustained by the inhabitants of West Cambridge by 
the late tornado as taken by the subscribers, a com- 
mittee appointed for that purpose, and completed this 
fourth day of September, 1851, . . $23,606 

Mansir W. Marsh, ~) 

Lewis P. Bartlett, 

Moses Proctor, > ■«».» 

David Clark, 

Albert Winn, 



Mr. Converse — 

Damage to house, 
trees, 


fences, 


and 


James Wyman, (tenant to Mr. Converse,) — 
Damage to cornfield and loss of 
fruit, ..... 
Loton Gassett — 


Damage to house, 
To fruit and ornamen 


. . 100,00 
tal trees, 100,00 



SUBSCRIPTION PAPER CIRCULATED IN WEST 
CAMBRIDGE. 

The undersigned inhabitants of West 
Cambridge, being solemnly impressed by 
the recent calamity with which we have 



64 



THE TORNADO. 



been visited ; with a sense of our absolute 
dependence on God for the preservation of 
our lrves, the greatest of all earthly gifts : 
and at the same time, duly sensible of our 
dependence on each other for sympathy and 
aid in time of trouble : Now feel ourselves 
called upon to acknowlege our gratitude to 
God for the preservation of our lives in the 
midst of the greatest peril and danger ; and 
we would cheerfully extend to our suffer- 
ing neighbors and friends our most cordial 
sympathy ; and also such pecuniary aid, as 
by the blessing of God we are severally able 
to bestow. We therefore agree to pay on 
demand to the Committee chosen to solicit 
subscriptions for this purpose, the sums set 
against our respective names. 



James Russell, 


. $50,00 


Thomas Russell, 


50,00 


J. Field, 


50,00 


William Adams, 


25,00 


Joseph Burrage, 


15,00 


Nathan Robbins, Jr., . 


50,00 


F. Abbot, . 


5,00 


Francis Horton, . 


10,00 



THE TORNADO. 

Albert Winn, 
A. G. Peck, 
George H. Gray, 
George C. Russell 
Joshua Robbins, 
Artemas Locke, 
W. J. Niles, 
Luke Wyman, 
David W. Horton 
T. J. Russell, 
John Osborn, 
Isaac Shattuck, Jr., 
Thomas Ramsdall, 
N. M. Fessenden, 
W. R. Norcross, 
S. H. Russell, 
J. B. Hartwell, . 
Daniel C. Chamberlain 
Lewis P. Bartlett, 
Stephen Levan, . 
George Stearns, . 
Capt. George Lee, 
Amos Hill, 
Henry Y. Hill, . 
George A. Locke, 
Francis Hill, 
6* 



65 

25,00 
20,00 
30 ; 00 
15,00 
15,00 
• 20,00 
50,00 
20,00 
20,00 
15,00 
10,00 
5,00 
5,00 
5,00 
5,00 
1,00 
3,00 
20,00 
10,00 
5,00 
10,00 
150,00 
15,00 
15,00 
10,00 
15,00 



66 



l THE TORNADO. 




William F. Homer, 


25,00 


E. Homer, Jr., 


25,00 


P. B. Homer, 


25,00 


Otis Green, 


10,00 


Charles G. Winn, 


20,00 


John M. Hollingsworth, 


30,00 


J. 0. Wellington, 


15,00 


John L. Alexander, 


25,00 


John Schonler, 


50,00 


James E. Bailey, . 


10,00 


John Hinton, 


10,00 


Abner Pierce, 


25,00 


Martin Barnes, 


5,00 


Ephraim Tufts, . 


15,00 


David Puffer, 


3,00 


Ephraim Tufts, Jr., 


3,00 


Miles Gardner, 


2,00 


James and John Peabody, 


10,00 


John P. Wyman, 


5,00 


Josiah Crosby, 


5,00 


John P. Squires, . 


5,00 


Orrin Robinson, . 


3,00 


George Pierce, 


50,00 


Samuel Butterfleld, 


20,00 


Walter Fletcher, . 


25,00 


T. P. Pierce, 


5,00 



THE TORNADO. 67 

John A. P. Pierce, . . 5,00 

Ebenezer P. Pierce, . . 5,00 

S. F. Woodbridge, . . 5,00 

Elijah Cutter, . . . 10,00 



AMOUNT DISTRIBUTED IN WEST CAMBRIDGE. 

The Committee appointed to distribute 
the moneys collected for the sufferers by the 
late tornado, in West Cambridge, have at- 
tended to the duty assigned them, and submit 
the following Report. They find the moneys 
subscribed by the citizens of the town for 
the purposes aforesaid, to amount to the sum 
of twelve hundred and nineteen dollars. And 
they have awarded to the persons, whose 
names are hereunder written, the sums set 
against their respective names, viz. 



To Stephen Fogg, 


. $50,00 


Horace Wilson, . 


25,00 


Widow Amos Frost, 


75,00 


Oliver Russell, 


75,00 


Widow Phebe Swan, . 


. 225,00 


Michael McCarthy, 


10,00 


William L. Clark, 


50,00 



68 



THE TORNADO. 



Thomas Thorpe, 
Mrs. Thomas Thorpe, 
Thomas E. Thorpe, 
Mrs. Daniel Burbeck, 
P. B. Fessenden, 
J. Jerome Fessenden, 
George H. Fessenden, 
John P. Daniels, . 
Luke Agur, 
James Wyman, 2d, 
Gershom Whittemore, 
Widow Henry Swan, 
Widow David Damon, 
Thomas R. Gushing, 
Samuel C. Buckman, 
George Prentiss, Jr., 
Thaddeus Frost, . 
Charles Hill. 
James M. Wyman, 



125,00 
50,00 
40,00 
25,00 
50,00 
50,00 
50,00 
14,00 
30,00 
25,00 
40,00 
20,00 
25,00 
24,00 
40,00 
25,00 
25,00 
30,00 
20,00 



$1219,60 

James Russell, 
John Field, 
Abner Pierce, \ 

John Jarvis, J 

Geo. C. Russell, 
West Cambridge, Oct, 10 s 1851, 



Com- 
mittee. 



THE TORNADO. 69 



WALTIIAM. 

The following account in relation to Wal- 
tham has been kindly furnished by Mansir 
W. Marsh, Esq., of West Cambridge. 

The tornado, after passing the lands of 
George Lyman, Esq. where its track is plain- 
ly visible, crossed lands of Dea. Leonard 
Lawrence, Jacob Lawrence, Charles Ken- 
dall, Mr. Sanger and others, doing consid- 
erable damage to fruit and other trees, des- 
troying the fruit and other crops, as far as 
the street called North street. The damage 
thus far is not very serious, and cannot be 
very accurately estimated, say $500,00 

At this point it became very violent, and 
the buildings of Messrs. Robert Baldwin & 
Sons were very badly injured. A portion 
of the roofs of both house and barn were 
carried away, and two or three sheds. Sev- 
eral swarms of bees with the fruit of their 
labor were destroyed, and their tenements 
demolihsed. The bees themselves taking im- 
mediate possession of the dwelling house of 
the elder Mr. Baldwin, the rightful oc- 



70 THE TORNADO. 

cnpants for the time being, were compelled 
to beat a retreat. The Messrs. Baldwins 
lost many valuable fruit trees, with fruit and 
other crops. Their loss is estimated at not 
less than . , . . . $ 1000,00 

The dwelling house of Mr. Nathan Law- 
rence was partly unroofed, and the shed at- 
tached to it turned round. A part of the 
roof of Mr. Lawrence's barn (a new one,) 
was carried away, and the back side blown 
out. Mr. Lawrence lost nearly all his fruit 
trees. His loss may be estimated at about $500,00 

Mr. Sullivan Wellington, tenant to Mr. 
Lawrence, lost a quantity of hay blown out 
of the barn. Also, a lot of salt hay which 
lay in heaps in the field, with the whole of 
his fruit crop, &c, estimated at about $200,00 

Mr. Sawyer had two sheds carried away, 
with considerable other damage, estimat- 
ed at . . ...... $300,00 

Mr. Jacob Lawrence sustained considera- 
ble loss in fruit and fruit trees, . $ 300,00 

The tornado pursued its course across 
rock meadow, and with great violence en- 
countered the buildings of the Messrs. Ken- 
dalls. The estimated amount of damage 
done to the estate of the late Josiah Ken- 
dall may be set down perhaps at about $400,00 



THE TORNADO. 71 

The house and out-buildings of Mr. David 
Kendall were badly damaged, some of them 
almost entirely demolished. A very fine 
grove a short distance from the house, with 
nearly all of Mr. Kendall's fruit trees, were 
almost wholly destroyed. Mr. Kendall's 
loss may be set down at . . $ 600,00 

This brings us to the line of the town 
of West Cambridge, and to the house owned 
by Mr. James Brown. After passing the 
buildings of the Messrs. Kendalls some lit- 
tle distance, the violence of the gale seems 
to have abated, at least on the surface of the 
ground, and not much damage was done 
until it had passed the house of Mr. Brown, 
referred to above. 

Whole amount of damage in the town of 
Waltham, as estimated, above . . $4000,00 

The Selectmen of Waltham were written to and 
requested to furnish a statement of the damage, sus- 
tained by their townsmen, but they not having com- 
plied with that request, I have been induced to pre- 
pare the foregoing statement, not however with any 
careful survey of the premises, but wholly from cas- 
ual observation and from recollection. 

Mansir W. Marsh. 



72 THE TORNADO. 



NOTE TO THE READER. 



We have given in this work a general idea of tl 
Tornado and its work of destruction, and many pa 
ticular facts have also been stated ; but there is an ii 
numerable number of facts which might be stated, < 
great interest to the general reader, and which vi 
shall state in another little work upon this subject, 
the call for this is sufficient to warrant it. We pu 
pose in the next to present drawings, representir 
different scenes. To those who desire the facts in tl 
case, this work will be particularly valuable, and v 
trust not altogether uninteresting to the people ge: 
erally. Such a wonderful display of God's powe 
was never before seen in this portion of the country 
so great a destruction of buildings, trees, fences, ar 
fruit, was never known in this State ; and we m? 
add, with gratitude to Gocl, that such a miraculo 
preservation of life and limb, amidst this scene 
devastation, was never before known. The wor 
such as it is, we now give to the public. 

J. M. Usher. 



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